[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 47 (Wednesday, April 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2551-S2552]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INAUGURATION OF JOE BERTOLINO
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont is a
special place. In a State that abounds in natural beauty, the Kingdom,
as many Vermonters affectionately call the State's northeast corner, is
heralded for its rural splendor. While the rural character and
unspoiled landscape is what defines the Kingdom to many, it is also
home to an academic institution that has educated Vermonters for more
than 100 years.
Since its founding in 1911, Lyndon State College has served as an
economic engine for the region, educating students in a diverse range
of academic pursuits. Lyndon has distinguished itself by developing
academic programs that mirror the emerging economic needs of the
community, such as its first-of-its-kind Mountain Recreation Management
program. At the same time, Lyndon remains committed to a liberal arts
education and educating students to be well-rounded professionals.
On Friday, April 19, Lyndon State will inaugurate its fifteenth
president, Joe Bertolino. Joe comes to Vermont from Hunter College in
New York, where he served as vice president for enrollment management
and academic affairs. Joe's passion for working with students is
evident in his easygoing manner and in how he has engaged students
since arriving on campus last summer. At a college of only 1,400
students, Joe's personal touch sets the clear tone that under his
leadership Lyndon will be a student-centered institution. Joe has
undertaken a number of creative initiatives to build community spirit
among Lyndon students and alumni, including an informal policy called
``Go Green, Go Gold,'' that encourages the Lyndon State community to
wear the school colors on Wednesdays.
Beyond this personal approach, Joe has laid out an ambitious plan for
the college's future. I have had the opportunity to meet Joe during a
recent visit to Washington and am encouraged to welcome his energy and
creative thinking to Vermont. Lyndon State College is a vital part of
Vermont's higher education community, and I wish Joe the best as he is
officially inaugurated as the college's next president.
I request unanimous consent that an article from Lyndon State about
President Bertolino be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Loving Lyndon
(By Leon Thompson)
[From the Lyndon State College Twin Tower Topics]
To the director of YMCA Camp Ockanickon, Joe Bertolino--an
accordion-playing member of his high school debate team in
New Jersey--didn't seem so suited for counseling other geeks.
Not at first.
``Do you hike?'' the director asked. ``No,'' Joe said.
``Swim?'' ``No.'' ``Boat?'' ``No.'' ``Arts and crafts?''
``Maybe.''
The director wondered, ``Is there anything you do?'' ``I
get along with people,'' Joe said. ``That's when my life
began,'' Dr. Joseph Bertolino said this fall, a week after
delivering Lyndon State College's State of the College
Address, as the fifteenth president. ``To me, the meaning of
life is relationships, and leadership is all about
relationships.''
[[Page S2552]]
Joe, 49, officially succeeded Interim President Steve Gold
on July 1; LSC offered Joe the position in February. For
months, Joe traveled between Queens College, in New York
City, where he was vice president for enrollment management
and student affairs, and LSC, as part of his transition. Joe
began his LSC tenure with a 100-day listening tour that
involved the College and Northeast Kingdom communities. He
has represented LSC twice in the nation's capital, and during
his October 4 State of the College Address--preceded by a
short, Chaplin-esque silent film about him--he rode into
Academic & Student Activity Center, room 100 on his bike,
donning a suit, and conveyed a clear message to 200 students,
faculty, and staff.
``At Lyndon State College, students come first.'' Joe
called the state of the college ``excellent.'' Enrollment is
up, the budget is balanced--with a surplus--and LSC has five
new faculty and 15 new staff members and administrators this
year.
``Every student has said to me, without fail, `Joe, I love
it here,' '' he told his audience. Joe aims to bolster
internal and external communications at LSC. His lengthy to-
do list contains a new public relations campaign, with a
focus on social media, and he wants to erase the off-campus
community's perception of LSC as ``Harvard on the hill'' by
continuing to build strong partnerships in the Northeast
Kingdom.
He said LSC is a key stakeholder in Jay Peak Resort's plans
to invest $500 million in the region over the next decade--a
plan that could mean more internships for LSC students and
jobs for graduates.
``Lyndon State College is the college of the Northeast
Kingdom,'' Joe said. Joe has also started an electronic
suggestion box--``Joe Wants to Know''--where anyone can post
anonymous concerns and comments. During his one-hour speech,
Joe posed challenges to alums: $1 million for an all-weather
athletic field, and $1 million for a new version of the old
Vail towers. ``The response from our alumni has been great,''
he said.
Joe also asked faculty and staff to increase their in-house
contributions, and he imposed a lighthearted, non-mandatory
policy called ``Go Green, Go Gold,'' where he asks the campus
community to wear LSC colors each Wednesday. ``If you haven't
figured it out by now,'' he said, after dismounting his bike,
before his speech, ``I like to have fun. Life is too short,
and the world is complicated enough.''
``I believe I am where I'm supposed to be, and I believe
I'll be where I'm supposed to be,'' he said. ``It's been a
long time since I've been in a place where I felt I haven't
belonged.''
Days later, while in his office--``a beautiful corner of
the world,'' he said--Joe called himself a motivated, goal
oriented Type A personality that leads by surrounding himself
with the talent to implement his vision. He is a foodie, a
Lion King fan, and textbook introvert who usually recharges
alone.
``As soon as I hit the front of a group, or a stage, I'm
on,'' he said. ``I am representing and selling LSC. That's
what I am doing. But I'm perfectly comfortable being by
myself in the house at the end of a long day.''
Joe's social circle was small during 16 years of Catholic
School in Glendora, N.J. His Italian father, also a Joe,
worked for AT&T. His Irish mother, Eileen, was a nurse. He
played accordion competitively for 10 years (and still plays
a little). When Joe entered the University of Scranton, Pa.,
in 1982, ``There was a group for everyone,'' he said. ``In
high school, there are popular groups. In college, there
aren't popular groups. There are different groups.''
While earning his bachelor's degree in psychology/sociology
in Scranton, Joe spent some time in seminary school and his
summers at Camp Ockanickon, where he surprisingly became
``the go-to guy.'' He worked there for eight years, went on
to become a board member and president, and will celebrate
his 30-year relationship with Camp Ockanickon in the summer
of 2013.
``Somehow, I became this listener, this counselor,'' he
said of camp. ``It just happened.'' That inherent and well-
honed skill helped Joe build an impressive, 10-page
curriculum vitae filled with publications, workshops,
consulting, honors, awards, and practically every facet of
education, from teaching to administration. He earned his
doctorate from Columbia University's Teachers College in
2003.
After eight years at Queens College, Joe left this year
with responsibility for 22 departments and more than 200
employees. He also created veterans' services and a wellness
center on campus. ``Joe stands out as a president who will
attempt to engage, in an extremely supportive way, every
single student we have,'' said Jonathan Davis, LSC Class of
'97 and dean of students. ``I've already witnessed that in
the form of students walking into his office to ask a
question or simply to chat.''
Student recruitment and retention is also part of Joe's
mission at LSC. He has charged Davis with co-chairing a team
that would use data and strategies to increase the College's
retention rates. Davis was an LSC student when Peggy Williams
was president, in the 1990s. Williams was already one of
Joe's mentors when he learned about the president's vacancy
at LSC last December.
Joe was considering other job offers for higher salaries at
larger schools, ``but I just kept coming back to Lyndon,'' he
said. Enamored after his first trip to campus, and he went
with no expectations, he called his partner, Bil, in New
Jersey and said, ``The good news is I think I interviewed
well, and I liked it. The bad news is I think I interviewed
well, and I liked it.''
He elaborated further in his office more recently:
``Initially, I underestimated Lyndon in so many ways. Then,
when I got here, it was nothing like I thought it would be.
The people are passionate. The College is in great shape. I
fell in love.'' Bil is in New Jersey for now, working at
Rutgers University and living in the house he and Joe shared
before Joe moved to Lyndonville. Joe converted the lower
level of the LSC president's house--``our house,'' he calls
it--to all-purpose meeting space. He lives upstairs.
``I believe I am where I'm supposed to be, and I believe
I'll be where I'm supposed to be,'' he said. ``It's been a
long time since I've been in a place where I felt I haven't
belonged.''
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